wilshusen



2 Sheets-Sheet l A. WILSHUSEN PUMP DRIVE 'MEANS FIG. l.

Jan. 31, 1956 Filed oct. 16, 1951 |NvENToR ARTHUR WILSHUSEN ATTORNEYS Wu. VM..

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 16, 1951 ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 2,732,722 PUMP DRIVE MEANS Arthur Wilshusen, Redondo Beach, Calif., assignor of onethird to Jay B. Hills and Madonna L. Hills, Los ,Angeles, Calif.

Application October 16, 1951, Serial No. 251,597

2 Claims. (Cl. 74-31) This invention has to do generally with means for trans.- lating .rotary movement into reciprocatorymovement and more particularly with pump jacks such as are used for actuating oil well pumps.

In the art of pumping oil from wells it is customary to use a reciprocating pump in'th'e well. This is actuated by a motor at the surface of the ground throughthe me. dium of mechanism which includes a long string of pump rods extending down the well and usually a walking beam at the -top of thewell connected thereto. A great disadvantage of such mechannsm has been that it is practically A impossible to obtain a long pump stroke unless the walking beam is made unduly large. I am aware that various mechanisms have been devised, such. as Apump jacks for example, for the purpose of obtaining a long pump stroke but so far as l am aware Anone of these has been completely practicable.

A primary object of this .invention is .to provide a novel means for translating rotary motion into reciprocatory motion which is particularly useful for the purpose of actuating a string of pump rods connected to 1a well pump to obtain a relatively long pump stroke.

Another object is to provide a novel pump jack apparatus which may be built to furnish or provide any desired length of pump stroke without increasing the width or impairing the efficiency of the apparatus.

Another object is to provide a reciprocating pump jack apparatus in which there is a substantial dwell at the end of each stroke and which therefore does not have or result in a rapid reversal of movement.

Another object is to provide a rugged, simple apparatus of the type indicated which is economical to manufacture and operate.

These and other objects will be apparent from the drawings and the following description thereof. Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial elevational view of the apparatus of Fig. 1 as viewed from the side in the direction indicated by line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional elevational view on line 4-4 of Fig. l

Fig. 5 is a view in elevation on line 5--5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 6 6 of Fig. 5. v

More particularly describing the invention, numeral 11 generally indicates the polish rod at the upper end of a string of pump rods leading to an oil well pump which may be a thousand or more feet below within an oil well (not shown). The rod 11 is shown attached to a member 13 which is mounted for vertical reciprocatory movement within a frame structure 14.

The frame structure 14 includes a base portion 16 which would normally be at about the ground level being supported upon a suitable foundation (not shown). At-

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tangle. These are joined at their lower ends by suitablecross members 20 and at their upper ends by cap members 21. The portion of the uprights 17 below the base 16 would normally project into the cellar of the well.

The uprights are shown as of right angle form in cross section (Fig. 3) and they slidably receive the member 13 which may be described as a reciprocating member or driven member. This member ,includes a frame comprising the vertically extending upright corner members 24 which lit slidably within uprights 17 of the frame, connecting cross members 25 and 26 at the top and bottom, respectively, and certain other elements to be described later. The member 13 is shown as provided with a pair of what will be termed drive tracks, indicated by 28. The drive tracks are endless and are elongated in the direction of movement of the member 13. Each track is shown as comprising a member 30 (which can be made in one or several pieces) providing a peripheral channel 31 in which there are regularly spaced transversely extending pins 32. The members 30 thus provide a chain-like path suitable for engagement by a sprocket wheel. Members 30 are individually supported upon brackets 34 and 35 which are secured by means of bolts 36 to said members and by bolts 37 to the frame elements 24.

The upper and lower ends 38 and 39 of the drive track are preferably correspondinglyshaped and in the form shown yare curved on a particular radius as will be described later. At each end beyond each drive track and in a plane to one side thereof, each member 13 is provided with guide plates 40 and 41 which are shaped to provide guide faces 42 and 43, respectively, which generally conform to the ends of the drive track. The guide faces 42 and 43 and the inner surfaces 24 of frame members 24 form a guide means or track for part of the drive mechanism as will later appear.

In order to reciprocate the member 13 I provide a drive wheel 45 in the form of a sprocket wheel for each drive track. These wheels are carried by and fixed to a shaft 46 which is rotatively mounted in the bifurcated bearing portions 47 of the free end of a pivoted arm 48. The arm is pivotally secured to the frame 14 at its lower end by means of shaft 49 which is journalled in bearing blocks 50. The pivoted lower end of the arm 4S is bifurcated so that a sprocket wheel 52 may be mounted on the shaft 49 centrally of the arm and in alignment with another sprocket Wheel 53 which is fixed to shaft 46. These two sprocket wheels are connected by a conventional chain 55. Shaft 49 is driven by a motor 57 through the medium of the belt-and-gear drive mechanism 58 shown in Figs. l and 2.

The outer ends of the shaft 46 are provided with anged bearing sleeves 59 which rotate relative to shaft 46 and which run against the inner surfaces of the members 24 forming part of the frame of member 13, and, at each end of the drive track, against the surfaces 42 and 43 provided by the plates 40 and 41.

With this construction, as the drive wheels 45 are rotated through the connected drive mechanism by the motor through the connected drive mechanism previously described (preferably in the direction of the arrow thereon in Fig. 4), they are effective to move the reciprocating member, the drive wheels being held in driving engagement with the drive tracks by the bearings 59 contacting the frame element surfaces 24 and guide plate surfaces 42 and 43 of the member 13. As the drive wheels pass under the drive tracks along portions 39 to the portions 44, arm 43 pivots between the drive tracks to the broken-line position in which it is shown in Fig. 4. Arm 4S returns to its original position as the drive wheels reach and ride over the upper ends 38 of the drive tracks.

Where the pump jack is used for actuating an oil well pump, I prefer to form at least the central portion of the ends 3S and 39 of the drive tracks arcuately on a radius equal to the radius of the arcs described by the endmost teeth of the sprocket wheels 45 as arm 48 pivots from the full 'line to the broken-line position of Fig. 4. With the ends so constructed there is no movement of the member 28 while the drive sprockets are traversing the arcuate portions of the ends of the drive tracks. This is desirable since there is definite dwell at the end of each stroke and no rapid reversal of the member 2S. I contemplate that the ends 33 and 39 may be otherwise shaped to give a desired result. Any conventional means may be provided for yicldably resisting downward movement of or counterbalancing the reciprocating member 13 and the connected pump rods. Also, I contemplate that the size of the drive track and the drive wheels may be made commensurate with the load requirements of a particular job and in this connection I contemplate the use of a doubletrack and double drive wheel for each of the tracks and wheels shown.

Various changes and modifications can be made in the apparatus disclosed without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, anti-friction bearings can be interposed between the member 13 and the main frame, if desired.

I claim:

1. In a pump jack, a frame providing laterally spaced upright frame elements, a reciprocatory member mounted between said frame elements for movement longitudinally thereof, an endless peripheral drive track on said reciprocatory member elongated in the direction of movement of said member, an arm pivotally mounted at one end on said frame about an axis normal to the -direction of movement of and to one side of said reciprocatory member, a drive wheel carried by the free end of said arm engageable with said drive track, interengaging means on said reciprocatory member and said arm for maintaining said drive wheel in engagement with said drive track and for supporting said reciprocatory member on said arm when said drive whel is above said drive track, the ends of said drive track having arcuate portions formed on a radius of the arc described by the drive wheel as said arm pivots, and means for rotating said drive wheel.

2. In a pump jack, a stationary frame having four rectangularly spaced, upright members, a reciprocating frame mounted within said upright members for movement longitudinally thereof, said reciprocating frame member having two, oppositely disposed sections, means mounted on each said section forming an endless, rack-like drive track elongated in the direction of movement of said reciprocating frame, said drive tracks being spaced inwardly of said sections and being spaced laterally of each other, an

arm pivotally mounted at one end on said stationary frame about an axis normal to the direction of movement and to one side of said reciprocating frame, said arm being between the planes of said drive tracks, a pair of drive Wheels carried by the free end of said arm, said wheels engaging the drive tracks, respectivly, interengaging means on said'reciprocating frame and said arm when said drive wheel is above said drive track, and means for rotating said drive wheel, said last-mentioned interengaging means comprising guide rollers carried by the free end of said arm and a guide track provided by said reciprocating frame, said drive tracks having end sections formed on a radius equal to the radius of the arc described by the drive wheel as said arm pivots, the upper end sections of said 4drive tracks being convex and the lower end sections being concave.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 879,376 Fairchild Feb. 18, 1908 1,182,553 Gard May 9, 1916 1,579,975 Tunison Apr. 6, 1926 2,244,607 Blakeley Iune 3, 1941 2,510,082 Davey June 6, 1950 

